Rotatable hangar for airships



O. KRELL March 8, 1932.

ROTATABLE HANGAR FOR AIRSHIPS Filed Jan. 21, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l March .8, 1932. O, KRELL 7 1,848,360

ROTATABLE HANGAR FOR AIRSHIPS Filed Jan 21, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedMarrS, 1932 it I vantage for. the construction of the trucks and PAT - OTTCiKRELIi, or BERLIN-DAHLEMLGERMANY noi'n'rnnnn 'I-IANGAR "non. Arnsr-urs Application Januaryfil, 192 8,l-Seria1 No. 248345, and in Gerniany June 7, 1927.

-Myinvention relates to rotatable hangars for airships.

The rotatable or turning hangars for airships,,as constructed hitherto, are moved by driving the wheels of the trolleys or trucks upon which the hangar rests, by means of electric motors. It is, however, a great ad- 7 other structures to use the wheels. of the trucksas runner. wheels only and to rotate or turn the hangar by special means viz. to

drag, or haul it around. A number of suggestions has beenmade in this direction but the problem that the hangar must be capable of being turned in one or the other di-,

7 rection to'any' desired extent, if it is to fulfill its objects, has not yet found a satisfactory solution. v I I i According to my invention the hauling, ordragging of the hangar is efi'ected by means of one .or more ring or rings fixed concentrically to theaxis of rotationof the hangar and engaged by ropes, and the like. Generally as large a ring as possible will be chosen the diameter of which is about equal-tothe length of the hangar .so that the ring runs along the extremest circumference of the rail pit, in order to keep the power for rotating thehangar as lowaspossible. The drive I may then take place'by means of ropes or cables laid around the circumference of this ring.

Fig. 1, shows, at thetop in elevation and at the bottom in plan a hangar the drive of which is effected by means of an endless rope, the driving device being stationary.

Fig; 2, illustrates, at the top in elevation endless rope-is placed around a stationary rail.

' draulic rope tensionmg device;

i Fig. 3,. r Fig. 5, an arrangement of therope ten-e Fig.3, shows, in plan, an automatic h Fig. is an elevation of the deviceshown in 'sioning device located tangentially to the periphery of the rotatable hangar, and

Fig. 6, an arrangement ofthe rope tensioning device located radially to the periphery of the rotatable hangar.

In F ig.. 1- isillustrated a hangar the drive of which is effected by means of a rope s v placed around the largest circleof the circumference u, this rope being raised oil" the cir- ENT" oFF-icEg rigpointsb, b on the-hangar, thelatter being so placed .thatithe extended tension members would intersect, the'ends of the diameters (Z, If the hangar is erected in countries withrstrongsnowfalls it isnot diflicult to covernp the spacebetween the hangarand the ring by planks. or boards B, Bsupported by light: trucks running on concentric rails:

70,711 *,]c"., On this floor may be erected sheds forstoringgas bottles and sparesor serving as repairshops, care being taken'that these structures do-not come tooenear theentrance opening ofthe hangar soas to interfere with the flow of the wind alongthe stern of the hangar.-

The use of endless ropes as driving means is illustrated in the Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings. An endless ropeS is slungaroundthe circumference of the turntable and is. wound in one turn around the two rand r; Each of the two pulleysis driven by an electric motor m and m, preferably of equal torque and provisions .are made for these'two pulleys to be forced apart by a regulable or adjustableiiorce for the-purpose l i of contracting theloop formed by the rope.

In F ig. 3 this is effected by hydraulic means viz; the cylinder 2. and the plunger is. The

- cylinder ismounted upon the foundation F and carries at its rear end a fork within which the pulley'r is pivoted. Ina similar waya second pulley 1"- is mounted upon the external end of the plunger/ a. The pulleys can thus pulleys i the arrangement of be forced apart under regulable hydraulic pressure. On account of the variation of the distance between the two ropepulleys and the necessity to make the driving forces for both pulleys equal, the drive by means of electric motors offers particular advantages,

because they may be maintained at equal torques by connecting their armatures in series. Their supply may easily be effected by means of flexible cables. No liquid is wasted in operating the mechanism and the pressure may be maintained by an accumulator which can be pumped up from time to' time by means of a hand-pump, because the leakage losses only have to be made good i which in the case-of a correctly constructed stufiing box are very low.

In order that no bending stresses should developat the rope ends, these rope ends S and S" should be paralled to the axis of the piston or plunger which in the construction illustrated in Fig. 3 is attained by placing the rope end S tangentially to the ring R. If it is desired to be independent as regards the driving device, it is' only necessary to take care that the ends S and S" of the rope are placed in a parallel position to the axis of the piston by a corresponding arrangement of a guide pulley L Fig. 5. For operation in both directions thearrangement shown in Fig. 6 is particularly suitable on account of the symmetric disposal ofthe two tangents to the ring R.

. If the friction of asingle rope is not sufficient for turning the hangar, a number of ropes may be employed or still better an endless rope which is slung in a number of turns around the circumference of the ring R and is then assed from the last groove over a correspon ingly arranged guide roller back into the-first groove of the ring. WVhen individual ropes are used they should be subjected to a preliminary stretching until repeated stretching and slackening does no longer change the permanentexpansion. In consequence of the great length of the ropes and their elasticity a sufiiciently automatic equalization of the tension between the individual ropes is attained. 'This equalization of the load is still more favourable when the rope is wound around the pulley in a number of turns. Insteadof the plain pulleys in the former case, grooved pulleys T and T are used in thelatter case, around which as in the case of the plain pulleys the individual ropes or individual rope turns or rope loops must be passed in a single turn only.

Various modificationsand changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art.

Iclaim as my invention: i 1. In combination with a rectangular rotatable hangar for airships, a rope sheave fixed to the base of said hangar of a diameter substantially equal to the length of said hanger, a single endless rope laid around said sheave in a plurality of turns, two driven grooved rope drums around which said rope is assed in a single turn in each winding, and means for forcing said drums apart by a force'ofsuitable magnitude. 1

2. In combination with a rectangular rotatable hangar for airships, a rope sheave fixed'to'bhe' base of said hangar of a diameter substantially equal to the length of said hanger, parallel endless ropes laid around said sheave after they have been subjected to as equal a preliminarystretching as possible,-two driven ooved rope drums around which each of said ropes is passed in a single turn, and meansfor forcing said drums apart by a force of suitable magnitude.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

OTTO 

